Chapter 4

I saw my younger brother, Elio! He was only ten years old! He hadn't even fully mastered the art of human transformation yet, and now he was lying in a small, reinforced glass tank, his wings glowing with a pale golden light, dragging behind him in terror.

"Sister! "

He frantically pounded the thick glass wall, tears streaming down his face, desperately crying for help.

Lisa saw him too. Her eyes lit up instantly, like she had discovered a new prey, and a malicious smile curled her lips.

"Oh? So…this little thing is your brother, and this one you know,too? He's quite cute... Then... let's start with them. Let's see how beautiful their crystal is and whether it will match my new nail art style. Next, it'll be your turn, dear Princess."

Lisa laughed, a light, tinkling sound that scraped like glass on stone. She leaned closer to Lyra, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper filled with malice: "I want to see the blue. I hear it’s the color of deep, still water just before a storm…or perhaps."

A high-pitched whine filled the room. The crystal probe glowed with an eerie blue-white light. Without ceremony, without another word, Lisa plunged it precisely into Lyra’s chest, directly over her heart.

Lyra’s body arched violently off the table, a silent scream tearing through her gagged mouth. Her eyes bulged, fixed on mine, filled with incomprehensible agony.

From the point of the probe, a brilliant, deep sapphire light began to pulse, then streamed, pulled inexorably into the device. It wasn't a violent rip like Elio's, but a slow, agonizing draining. Lisa watched, utterly fascinated, a connoisseur appreciating fine wine.

The blue light swirling. Lyra’s struggles weakened, her vibrant green eyes dimming, fading to a dull, lifeless grey. Her body slumped, utterly still, as the last wisp of sapphire essence vanished. The whine died. Silence, thick and suffocating.

Lisa carefully picked up the dark blue crystal, palm-sized crystal, radiating a deep, mesmerizing blue light—the concentrated essence of Lyra’s life, her spirit, her laughter. Lisa held it up to the light, turning it this way and that, her face alight with covetous delight.

"Exquisite," she breathed, completely ignoring the corpse cooling on the table.

"The clarity! The depth! It will pair beautifully with the diamonds." She glanced dismissively at the tray of green and yellow crystals. "So much more… elegant than those common things."

She finally looked down at me, kneeling in a pool of my own weakness and despair. She dangled the still-warm blue crystal just inches from my face.

The light pulsed faintly, a cruel echo of Lyra’s stolen vitality. I could almost feel the ghost of her presence, a final, silent cry.

"See, Jovia?" Lisa purred, her eyes gleaming with sadistic triumph. "Everyone serves a purpose. I want everything."

She closed her fist around the crystal, its light momentarily snuffed by her grasp, then tucked it carefully into a pocket of her smock.

Two tall guards immediately carried out the order, brutally dragging the crying and struggling Elio out and pinning him down on the ground, His back, and the transparent little wings that couldn't be retracted, facing Lisa's blood-stained scalpel!

"NO—"

The string of my sanity snapped! I could no longer bear it and threw myself to the ground, furiously banging my forehead against the cold, hard ground, making a dull thud.

"Please! Lisa! Please! Let my brother go!" He's just a child! An orphan adopted by my parents! He's not of the royal blood! His crystal is green! You want a bule one, take mine! Take my crystal! Please! Let him go!"

Lisa's knife tip was already lightly pressing against Elio's tender chest, drawing a thin line of blood. She tilted her head, her smile innocent yet cruel:

"But, Jovia, you're a little liar who's full of lies. How do I know you're not lying to me again now?"

"Or... let's see for ourselves. Little one, let me first see what color your crystal is, and then I'll take your sister's… Ah! You little beast! What are you doing?"

Elio, who was pinned to the ground, suddenly summoned an astonishing force from somewhere and managed to break free from the guards' hold!

Acting like a cornered little beast, he lunged forward and bit down hard on Lisa's wrist that was holding the knife.

"Don't you dare hurt my sister! " His young voice was filled with anger and fear.

"Get away! "

A furious roar, like a thunderclap, rang out! Accompanied by a sharp palm wind, the tiny Elio was sent flying like a kite with a broken string!

"Puh!" A few bloody baby teeth flew out of his mouth and landed at my feet.

Anders, like a furious lion defending its territory, instantly rushed forward and held the crying Lisa tightly in his arms, his eyes burning with a rage that could incinerate everything.

"Jovia, You made my parents' whereabouts unknown, and now you dare to hurt Lisa? You elves are all ungrateful ingrates. "

I scrambled to my brother's side, shielding his small, trembling body behind me, tears streaming down my face: "Please, Anders! Please spare him! He's just a child! Do whatever you want to me, Kill me! Kill me now! I beg you to spare him!"

"Shut up."

Anders laughed in-rage, his handsome face contorted with fury: "Didn't I tell you already? As long as you tell me where my parents are, I will not only let him go, but also you! This is your last chance!"

It's like this again...

Despair, like icy waves, instantly submerged me, draining away my last shred of strength. I raised my head and, for the first time, with all the hatred that had seared into my bones, stared straight into Anders's eyes, which were clouded by rage. "You know nothing at all."

"I've told you! By that time, even if I don't say anything, you'll know the truth! Why do you keep pushing me? Why do you have to hurt my family? "

"Anders, I hate you, I'll always hate you!"

Anders was stunned by the overwhelming hatred in my eyes, but he quickly turned his head away, avoiding my gaze, his voice as cold as a verdict: "Since you're so stubborn, let your brother bear the sin for you!"

Everything happened in slow motion, yet so fast that I couldn't stop it.

With Anders's tacit consent, a guard's sharp knife glinted coldly, and without hesitation, it plunged precisely into Elio's tiny, still slightly heaving chest!

I clearly heard the faint sound of life's crystal being pierced and shattered by the blade!

"No—"

Elio's body stiffened abruptly, his big eyes, like the purest lakes in the forest, instantly lost all their luster. His small body rapidly grew cold and rigid in my arms. His faint elven aura vanished completely. The crystal shattered, and his soul was consumed.

I knelt on the ground, holding my brother's cold little body in my arms, my mind blank. The world lost its sound and color, leaving only an endless, all-consuming darkness and silence.

A flash of satisfaction crossed Lisa's eyes. Pretending to bend down to help me up, she suddenly let out a cry and fell heavily to the ground as she approached me!

Immediately covering her protruding belly, tears welled up in her eyes. Pointing at me and my brother's corpse, she sobbed like a rain-soaked pear blossom: "Jovia! Why did you push me? I was just joking with you guys. Your brother wanted to bite off my hand! Now do you want to kill my child too? Such a cruel heart you have!"

It felt as if a huge black hole had been dug in my chest, with icy cold wind howling through, taking away all warmth. I watched Lisa's brilliant performance and Anders's face turn ashen in an instant.

I knew that no matter what I said, it would be seen as a lie in his eyes.

So, I raised my empty eyes and spoke in a hoarse voice, as if sandpaper was rubbing against my throat, calmly and lifelessly: "Yes. I did want to harm all of you. Execute me."

If death could immediately take me away from this hell, I would be more than willing.

Anders was completely enraged by my "confession", his forehead veins bulging. Just as he was about to give the order, Lisa suddenly let out an exaggerated cry of pain, clutching her stomach and curling up. “Anders, Ouch... I... I think I'm going into labor..."

Anders gave me a sinister look, as if I were a corpse: "Keep an eye on her! Once Lisa gives birth safely, I'll make you pay!"

He picked up the screaming Lisa and rushed towards the prepared delivery room with anxiety.

Watching his hasty departure, I forced out a smile that was even worse than a cry.

I won't make it to that day.

My time is up tomorrow.

I was roughly dragged back to that dark and damp underground cell by the guards.

The room above my head was Lisa's makeshift delivery room. Her painful moans and Anders' anxious soothing words came and went intermittently for a whole day and night.

At first, I could still hear those sounds, but later, my consciousness began to blur and my body grew lighter and lighter, as if trying to break free from this heavy shell... The pain gradually receded and my senses gradually shut down...

Finally, a loud cry of a newborn baby broke the silence, announcing Lisa's "safe delivery".

But just then, a series of unusually rapid footsteps approached, accompanied by the guards' panicked report:

"Mr. Anders! Sir! Your parents... Your parents are back! Right outside the manor gate!"

Anders rushed out of the delivery room, his face a mix of shock and disbelief: "What? What did you say?”

He almost rushed to the surveillance screen in the main control room of the manor.

On the screen, clearly displayed were the middle aged couple standing outside the manor gate, covered in dust and with extreme anxiety on their faces—they were his long missing parents!

Anders's hand was trembling slightly. He abruptly turned on the communicator, his voice carrying an unperceived change in tone: "Let them in! Immediately!"

When Anders rushed downstairs and met his parents in the grand foyer, he didn't even have time to ask about their experiences over the years.

His parents, Ezekiel and Kara, instead of showing the joy of a long-awaited reunion, only had deep seated fear and anxiety etched on their faces. Kara didn't even get a chance to look at Anders clearly before she grabbed his arm, her voice shaking uncontrollably:

"Anders, Where's Jovia? Did she come to see you? Quick! Take her to the core spring of the Forest of Life! Hurry! She's been away from the sacred land for too long. Without the nourishment of the Life Spring, she'll die!"

Anders's breath caught in his throat! A cold panic seized his heart in an instant and spread throughout his body. He suppressed the fluttering in his chest, trying to remain calm, even with a hint of an attempt to convince himself of ease that was barely detectable:

"Mom, what nonsense are you talking? Elves... aren't they immortal? She... she just made a mistake and I put her in the basement to reflect. She's fine..."

"PIA! "

Before he could finish, his usually refined Ezekiel used all his strength to deliver a resounding slap to Anders's face! The old man's eyes were wide with rage and heartbreak, an anger and pain never seen before: "You good for nothing! What do you know? Quick! Take us to the basement! Right now! "

Anders was hit and his head turned to the side. His face was burning with pain, but what hurt even more was the deep despair in his father's eyes. Uncontrollably, images flashed through his mind: my pale face like paper, empty eyes, the calm words "I'm dying", and the endless stream of blood all over her body...

An ominous premonition, like a cold snake, coiled around his heart, tightening with each passing moment. The calmness and control he was so proud of crumbled in an instant.

He moved his parents towards the entrance of the underground cell, almost stumbling and extremely stiff, each step as heavy as if lead had been poured into his legs.

"Dad, Mom, look, Jovia... she's... she's okay, right?" His voice was dry, as if seeking the final confirmation, his trembling hand grasping the cold doorknob.

His parents stared at the door as if they could see through the thick metal.

Anders took a deep breath, as if summoning all his courage in his life, and slowly turned the lock.

"Click."

The door opened.

"Dad, Mom, look, Jovia... "

“WHAT!”

“OH—NO!”

His words were cut off.

Because when his parents saw the scene inside the cell, they let out a heart wrenching, soul shattering cry!

Anders turned around stiffly and extremely slowly.

On the cold floor of the underground cell, there was no curled up figure as he had

He saw half of "her" face, faintly visible in the light dust, peaceful as if in deep sleep, yet with an eternal sense of extinction.

His Jovia was right before his eyes, slowly turning into...

LIGHT DUST.